A newly discovered member of the fatty acid desaturase gene family: a non-coding, antisense RNA gene to delta5-desaturase.

The rate limiting steps in the conversion of 18-carbon unsaturated fatty acids to 20- and 22-carbon products are catalyzed by two desaturase enzymes (Delta5-desaturase and Delta6-desaturase) found within a lipid desaturase gene cluster. Careful examination of this cluster revealed the existence of a conventionally spliced (human) and an intronless (mouse and rat) non-coding RNA gene, reverse Delta5-desaturase, which is transcribed from the opposite strand of the Delta5-desaturase gene. The 654 bp human reverse Delta5-desaturase transcript contains 269 nucleotides that are complementary to exon 1 and intron 1 of the Delta5-desaturase transcript, and the 3'-end of this sequence contains a 143 nucleotide stretch that is 100% complementary to the 5'-end of the Delta5-desaturase.

Regulation of human delta-6 desaturase gene transcription: identification of a functional direct repeat-1 element.

The rate-limiting step in 20:4(n-6) and 22:6(n-3) synthesis is the desaturation of 18:2(n-6) and 18:3(n-3) by Delta-6 desaturase. In this report, we demonstrate that n-6 and n-3 PUFAs suppressed the hepatic expression of rodent Delta-6 desaturase by inhibiting the rate of Delta-6 desaturase gene transcription. In contrast, consumption of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)alpha activator WY 14,643 significantly enhanced the transcription of hepatic Delta-6 desaturase by more than 500%.